Editing Jughead Jones (section)

==Sexuality==
Jughead is known for his lack of interest in romantic relationships with anyone. Jughead's philosophy on romantic relationships, gained from observing Archie's romantic entanglements, is that dating makes life complicated and costs money that could be spent on hamburgers. Ironically, his apathy toward women often attracts rather than repels them. His most ardent admirer is [[Ethel Muggs]], an awkward but very friendly girl who chases after Jughead at every opportunity, despite Jughead's constant and blunt refusals. Later story-lines showed a decrease in her obsession with him, and even show her dating other guys, making Jughead jealous. Jughead secretly enjoys the attention, although he claims that he puts up with Ethel's company only because she cooks for him. He has shown romantic interest in her on rare occasions, and eventually falls in love with her in the ''Life With Archie: The Married Life'' series, where the "Archie Marries Veronica" stories end with Jughead and Ethel's wedding.

In 2016, Jughead's orientation was confirmed to be [[asexuality|asexual]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.vulture.com/2016/02/archie-jughead-asexual.html|title=Archie Comic Reveals Jughead Is Asexual|author= Abraham Riesman|date=February 8, 2016|work=[[Vulture.com|Vulture]]|access-date=18 September 2016}}</ref> in the stories of Chip Zdarsky (and later Ryan North and Mark Waid) for the ''[[Jughead (comic book)|Jughead]]'' comics as part of the ''[[New Riverdale]]'' line.<ref>{{Cite web|title = Chip Zdarsky Opens Up About Jughead|url = http://comicbook.com/2015/09/25/chip-zdarsky-opens-up-about-jughead/|website = Comicbook.com|access-date = 2016-02-11}}</ref> Zdarsky said of his run on the book that "the next writer could make him discover girls or boys or both and that's totally fine. There have been iterations of Jughead over the decades where he has been interested in girls, so there's room to play around if someone was inclined. For me though, I like an asexual Jughead."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://comicbook.com/2015/09/25/chip-zdarsky-opens-up-about-jughead//|title=Chip Zdarsky Opens Up About Jughead|website = comicbook.com}}</ref> He later tweeted that he viewed Jughead as "ace and probably demi-romantic, but for the purposes of his teen years, [[Aromantic|aro]]."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://arojughead.tumblr.com/post/158095449658/aspecs-for-jughead-succheadjones-the-aroace|title=Jughead Jones is Canonically Aroace|website = arojughead.tumblr.com}}</ref> Both ''Riverdale'' fans in the asexual community<ref>The Asexuality Visibility and Education Network (January 27, 2017) [https://www.asexuality.org/en/topic/150582-riverdale%E2%80%99s-jughead-is-no-longer-asexual-and-that%E2%80%99s-a-problem-for-fans/ Riverdale's Jughead is no longer asexual, and that's a problem for fans]. Asexuality Visibility and Education Network. Retrieved 14 March 2018.</ref> and Cole Sprouse,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/riverdale-jughead-asexual_us_587cf5cfe4b0b3c7a7b222c1?ncid=engmodushpmg00000004.html|title='Riverdale' Star Cole Sprouse Wants His Character to be Asexual|author=Curtis M. Wong|date=January 17, 2017|work=Huffington Post|access-date=March 14, 2018}}</ref> who portrays Jughead in The CW's ''Riverdale'', have complained of [[asexual erasure]] in mainstream television and expressed desire to see the character's asexuality explored. However, Sprouse later noted that the Jughead Zdarsky created is the only asexual version so far. At the same time, he said that Jughead is aromantic in the classic Archie stories, "a different thing [from asexuality] but deserves attention as well."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bleedingcool.com/2017/03/05/cole-sprouse-weighs-jughead-sexuality-contoversy/|title=Cole Sprouse Weighs in on Jughead Sexuality Controversy|date=5 March 2017}}</ref>

A group of girls formed the UGAJ (United Girls Against Jughead) in an effort to get him interested in romance,<ref>{{cite comic|title=Archie's Pal Jughead|issue=79|date=December 1961|story=Between Us Girls|artist=
Samm Schwartz}}</ref> using methods such as computers<ref>{{cite comic|title=Archie's Pal Jughead |issue=119|date=April 1965|story=Pardon My Computer|artist=Samm Schwartz|writer=George Gladir}}</ref> or food,<ref>{{cite comic|title=Jughead|issue=135|date=August 1966|story=The Way to a Man's Heart}}</ref> though ultimately failing.

For his first 40 years or so of the comic, Jughead often claimed to dislike girls, but a shift in societal attitudes has caused later writers and fans to try different ways of explaining this, such as past heartbreak from childhood romance, bad impressions from Veronica and Ethel, and in the 2015 reboot, [[asexuality]]. There has never been one consistent canon explanation for Jughead's avoidance of girls and dating.{{Citation needed|date=December 2022}} In one story, Jughead declares, "I don't hate girls—I just love food more!"<ref>{{cite comic|story=Double Your Pleasure|title=Archie's Pals 'n' Gals|issue=212|date=January 1990}}</ref>  In the story "Phood Phobia", Archie and [[Dilton Doiley]] discover a hidden layer to this: it turns out that Jughead is actually nervous around girls, and he turns to food for comfort.  When confronted with this, Jughead is stunned; finding out that girls are the reason he enjoys food so much makes him lose his appetite.  In another story, when Jughead saw that [[Miss Grundy]] was upset on her birthday, he rallied the other students to cheer her up.

In "A Lass From The Past", written by Nate Butler and first appearing in ''Jughead'' #5 (April 1988), Jughead explains the reason he does not chase after girls is because of a childhood heartbreak, sustained before he moved to [[Riverdale (Archie Comics)|Riverdale]].  Little Jughead befriended Joani and they had a [[puppy love]] relationship.  Jughead's family moved to Riverdale and he had to leave Joani behind.  Determined to not endure heartbreak again, he swore off girls, keeping little Joani's picture in his wallet as a reminder.  That changed when Debbie moved to town (in "Jughead's Journal", written by Rod Ollerenshaw and also first appearing in Jughead #5), and Jughead began to overcome his old heartbreak as they started dating.  However, Joani suddenly visits town.  Now a young woman, she tells Jughead that she never forgot him and still has a crush on him, and they share their first kiss.  Before Jughead decides whether he wants to pursue a relationship with Joani, she leaves him, but with a promise that they will be together again. The comic even had Jughead say, "Sometimes, life is just more interesting than burgers and shakes."<ref>{{cite comic|title=Jughead Jones Digest Magazine|issue=81|date=April 1993}}</ref>  For a while, Debbie and Joani formed Jughead's own love triangle, but fans did not like it, so both girls disappeared and Jughead reverted to his classic independent lifestyle.  A few years later, a girl named [[List of Archie Comics characters#Trula Twyst|Trula Twyst]] appeared. She tends to drive Jughead crazy with her ability to predict his next moves, and they developed a [[love-hate relationship]].

Another thread that has run through stories involves a psychic experience he is supposed to have had, caused by an odd pin he wears on his hat.  In the early 1990s, Jughead had three girlfriends: [[List of Archie Comics characters#Debbie and Joani|Debbie]], [[List of Archie Comics characters#Debbie and Joani|Joani]], and [[Minor characters in Archie Comics#January McAndrews|January McAndrews]].  The latter is Archie's descendant in the future, who starred with Jughead in [[Alternate universes in Archie Comics#Jughead's Time Police|Jughead's Time Police]], a short-lived spinoff comic about their adventures traveling through time.